Different background wallpaper for each menu

YouTube video by Evan Liu (for backgrounds skip to 12:00)

Multiple backgrounds and/or Stamps (v1.A1+)

You can have different wallpapers or even a completely different style of menu for any of the sub-menu folders.

E2B v1.A1 and later versions of E2B will automatically use one of the following grub4dos .g4b batch files, or .bmp or .jpg files (if they exist) just before the corresponding menu is displayed. The file name is the same as the folder name...

\_ISO\MAINMENU.g4b or .bmp or .jpg - this must be present if you want the Main Menu to load a different wallpaper when returning back from a sub-menu
\_ISO\SVR2K8R2.g4b or .bmp or .jpg (bugfix - use v1.B0+)
\_ISO\SVR2012.g4b or .bmp or .jpg
\_ISO\VISTA.g4b or .bmp or .jpg (bugfix - use v1.B0+)
\_ISO\WIN7.g4b or .bmp or .jpg (bugfix - use v1.B0+)
\_ISO\WIN8.g4b or .bmp or .jpg
\_ISO\WIN10.g4b or .bmp or .jpg
\_ISO\SVR2016.g4b or .bmp or .jpg
\_ISO\SVR2019.g4b or .bmp or .jpg
\_ISO\WINAIO.g4b or .bmp or .jpg
\_ISO\WINDOWS.g4b or .bmp or .jpg
\_ISO\AUTO.g4b or .bmp or .jpg
\_ISO\ANTIVIRUS.g4b or .bmp or .jpg
\_ISO\BACKUP.g4b or .bmp or .jpg
\_ISO\DOS.g4b or .bmp or .jpg
\_ISO\LINUX.g4b or .bmp or .jpg
\_ISO\UTILITIES.g4b or .bmp or .jpg
\_ISO\UTILITIES_MEMTEST.g4b or .bmp or .jpg
\_ISO\WIN.g4b or .bmp or .jpg
\_ISO\WINPE.g4b or .bmp or .jpg

.g4b Example: if \_ISO\DOS.jpg or DOS.bmp exists, it will be used as the wallpaper for the DOS menu - OR (for example) you can create a \_ISO\DOS.g4b file to load new wallpaper and then stamp a menu heading at the top of a new background wallpaper:

!BAT
# display new wallpaper
splashimage /_ISO/MyDOS.bmp
# stamp heading on top of wallpaper (--offset=transparent=0x80 or 0=opaque,x,y file)
splashimage --offset=0x80=300=0 /_ISO/HeadingDOS.bmp
# remove currently playing animation (if any)
splashimage --animated=0

The .g4b file must begin with !BAT on the first line. 'color' commands and other commands can also be added to the .g4b file (see below).

You can add a new animation by adding code to the .g4b file - see 'Multiple animation sequences' here.

If the .g4b file does not exist, E2B will then look for a background image file with a .jpg or .bmp file extension, so if you just want a different wallpaper for each menu, simply ensure a .jpg or .bmp file is present in the \_ISO folder of the same name as the submenu folder (e.g. \_ISO\ANTIVIRUS.jpg, \_ISO\MAINMENU.jpg, etc.) and it will be used - no .g4b file is required.

If you create a new SubMenu folder (e.g. \_ISO\NEW) using SUB_MENU_Maker.cmd then one of the files \_ISO\NEW.g4b, \_ISO\NEW.bmp or \_ISO\NEW.jpg (in that order) will be automatically used, e.g. if NEW.g4b exists then NEW.bmp and NEW.jpg will be ignored.

Note: The maximum length for a grub4dos variable name is only 8 characters, variable names longer than 9 characters will be ignored (e.g. set FREDFREDAB=1 will do nothing, set FREDFREDA=1 will make a new variable FREDFRED (not FREDFREDA) with a value of 1).

--- o O o ---

The following methods are no longer necessary if you have E2B v1.A1 or later, it is left here for reference only...

Alternative Methods (pre. v1.A1)

You can change the default background by adding a \_ISO\MyBackground.bmp.gz or MyBackground.bmp file or MyBackground.jpg or by modifying the \_ISO\MyE2B.cfg file. However, you can also have different background wallpapers for each menu (and change other menu settings like the menu text colours). You can configure E2B so that each sub-menu displays a different background wallpaper bitmap. See video in my blog post here and also this YouTube video by Liu Evan.

Note: Wallpaper .bmp files can be compressed using 7Zip to gzip format, or, for even better compression, you can use the LZMA utility (see \_ISO\docs\E2B Utilities\LZMA\ReadMe_LZMA.txt for details on how to use drag-and-drop to compress any file).
E2B (i.e. grub4dos) will automatically detect if any .bmp or text file is compressed and how it has been compressed. The smaller the file, the faster it will load. E2B v1.72+ can also use JPEG encoded graphics files for backgrounds (save using Microsoft Paint for correct format).

The instructions below apply to E2B v1.62 and later versions.

The 9 'normal' menu folders can have a different background loaded using a .mnu file, however the \_ISO\AUTO and \_ISO\WINDOWS\xxxx folders require a different method (see below).

Tip: You can remove E2B's Menu headings by setting the HEADPOS variable in MyE2B.cfg so that it is outside the display area, e.g. set HEADPOS=4700. Then place a different menu heading at the top of each background wallpaper image in any font that you like. Use set HBTM=4700 to remove the Footer help text. E2B v1.A0 and later versions can also centre-align the menu entries automatically.

Set the Main menu background (for use with multiple wallpapers)

To have a different background for a sub-menu, you must first set-up E2B so that the Main menu background will always be re-loaded when the Main menu is displayed - otherwise when you return to the Main menu, the menu background from the previous menu will still be displayed.

1 Make a new file at \_ISO\MAINMENU\$$$$CONFIG\CONFIG.mnu

2 Add a background image (splashimage) command, you can also add other commands such as color commands (if required), etc. to the CONFIG.mnu file - e.g.

Example 1: Place Aliums.bmp.gz file in the same folder as CONFIG.mnu file ($HOME$ = path of the .mnu file)

splashimage $HOME$/wallpaper.jpg

color red/black white/black

Add a second pair of colours to change the highlighted menu text colour. The 2nd colour in each pair is the background colour (black background=transparent) - or use 'color normal' and 'color highlight' as in Example 2...

Example 2: Place bitmap file in a different folder - .e.g. default E2B bitmap

splashimage /_ISO/e2b/grub/Background.bmp.gz

color normal=0x777700

color highlight=0xFFFF00

Hex numbers must be greater than 0xFF. You can specify the highlight background colour too, e.g. 0x00ff33ff00AABBCC (where first 8 is the background - 00rrggbb00RRGGBB).

Note: Any changes in this file will affect ALL the following menus unless you also use a similar CONFIG.mnu file for each sub-menu (see below).

Define different backgrounds for each 'normal' sub-menu

You can have a different backgrounds and other settings for one or more of the 'normal' types of sub-menu.

Note: E2B v1.A1 and later versions automatically look for a \_ISO\xxxx.g4b, or a \_ISO\xxxx.bmp or a \_ISO\xxxx.jpg file of the same name as the sub-menu folder - see the end of this page for details.

The following is for older E2B versions...

There is a YouTube video showing you how to do this using .mnu files here.

Note: You must specify the Main menu background using a \_ISO\MAINMENU\$$$$CONFIG\CONFIG.mnu file otherwise the Main menu background will not be re-loaded when you go back to the Main menu.

This example is for the ANTIVIRUS sub-menu...

1. Create a new folder at \_ISO\ANTIVIRUS\$$$$CONFIG and place your background bitmap in the new folder.

2. Create a \_ISO\ANTIVIRUS\$$$$CONFIG\CONFIG.mnu file with your settings- e.g. (assumes the bitmap file is in the same folder as the .mnu file)

splashimage $HOME$/AV.jpg

color red/blue white/blue

Because the $$$$CONFIG folder will be enumerated first (E2B alphabetically sorts files), then the commands will be executed when the AntiVirus menu loads.

The color command is optional and will affect the menu text only. Add a second pair of colours to change the highlighted menu text colour. The 2nd colour in each pair is the background colour and will be ignored - or use 'color normal' and 'color highlight' as in Example 2 above.

If you want to use the same bitmap background for all of the sub-menus, then place the bitmap in the \_ISO folder (e.g. \_ISO\submenu.bmp.gz) and change the first splashimage line to:

splashimage /_ISO/submenu.bmp.gz

Then copy the $$$$CONFIG folder to all sub-menu folders (except WINDOWS and MAINMENU). This would mean that any change you make to the sub-menu CONFIG.mnu file would need to be copied to all other sub-menus however. So instead, your CONFIG.mnu could call a grub4dos batch file - e.g.

CONFIG.mnu

call /_ISO/submenu_config.g4b

/ISO/submenu_config.g4b

!BAT

splashimage /_ISO/submenu.bmp.gz

color red/blue

Then you would just need to change the submenu_config.g4b file to make the change affect all sub-menus.

Note: If you specify a different background in \_ISO\MAINMENU\$$$$CONFIG\CONFIG.mnu from the default \_ISO\MyBackground.bmp file (or the background file used in MyE2B.cfg), E2B will first load the \_ISO\MyBackground.bmp file (or default E2B file) and just before the Main menu is displayed, it will then load the background file from \_ISO\MAINMENU\$$$$CONFIG\CONFIG.mnu .

If you add 'call Fn.70 3' to the MyE2B.cfg file, then the user will see the default bitmap first during file enumeration and then the bitmap from $$$$CONFIG.mnu will be loaded when the Main menu is displayed. See video in my blog post here.

Example:

\_ISO\MyE2B.cfg

!BAT

# WINCOUNT=1 below is only required if \FASTLOAD.YES exists and E2B v1.79 or earlier

###if exist /FASTLOAD.YES set WINCOUNT=1

# Show background wallpaper during file enumeration

call Fn.70 3

\_ISO\MAINMENU\$$$$CONFIG\CONFIG.mnu (main menu image)
splashimage /_ISO/MainMenu.bmp.gz

Alternative Method

This method allows you to specify different wallpapers for the 9 menu folders from just one simple batch file.

1. Create a file \_ISO\SwitchBackground.g4b, containing the text...

!BAT

if "%MFOLDER%"=="/_ISO/ANTIVIRUS" set BG=lamp.jpg

if "%MFOLDER%"=="/_ISO/BACKUP" set BG=moon.jpg

if "%MFOLDER%"=="/_ISO/DOS" set BG=lakesunset.jpg

if "%MFOLDER%"=="/_ISO/LINUX" set BG=girl19.jpg

if "%MFOLDER%"=="/_ISO/MAINMENU" set BG=girl19.jpg

if "%MFOLDER%"=="/_ISO/UTILITIES" set BG=profile800x600.jpg

if "%MFOLDER%"=="/_ISO/UTILITIES_MEMTEST" set BG=girl19.jpg

if "%MFOLDER%"=="/_ISO/WIN" set BG=girl19.jpg

if "%MFOLDER%"=="/_ISO/WINPE" set BG=smilegreen.jpg

splashimage /_ISO/%BG%

set BG=

!BAT
if "%MFOLDER%"=="/_ISO/ANTIVIRUS" set BG=lamp.jpg
if "%MFOLDER%"=="/_ISO/BACKUP" set BG=moon.jpg
if "%MFOLDER%"=="/_ISO/DOS" set BG=lakesunset.jpg
if "%MFOLDER%"=="/_ISO/LINUX" set BG=girl1.jpg
if "%MFOLDER%"=="/_ISO/MAINMENU" set BG=girl2.jpg
if "%MFOLDER%"=="/_ISO/UTILITIES" set BG=profile800x600.jpg
if "%MFOLDER%"=="/_ISO/UTILITIES_MEMTEST" set BG=girl3.jpg
if "%MFOLDER%"=="/_ISO/WIN" set BG=girl4.jpg
if "%MFOLDER%"=="/_ISO/WINPE" set BG=smilegreen.jpg
splashimage /_ISO/%BG%
set BG=

You should change the name of the jpg/bmp files as required.

You can add color commands also if you wish, e.g.

if "%MFOLDER%"=="/_ISO/WINPE" set BG=smilegreen.jpg && color normal=0xFF0000 && color highlight=0xFFFFFF

Tip: You can name the picture files as DOS.jpg, ANTIVIRUS.jpg, BACKUP.bmp, etc.

2. Create a new file at \_ISO\MAINMENU\$$$$CONFIG\SetBackground.mnu with the following contents:

call /_ISO/SwitchBackground.g4b

3. Copy the $$$$CONFIG folder (complete with the same SetBackground.mnu file) to each of the 8 other folders, e.g. \_ISO\ANTIVIRUS\$$$$CONFIG\SetBackground.mnu, \_ISO\BACKUP\$$$$CONFIG\SetBackground.mnu, etc.).

Do not copy the folder to \_ISO\AUTO or \_ISO\WINDOWS\xxxx folders because it will not be used.

4. Ensure the jpg or bmp files are in the \_ISO folder.

You can use a different folder to store the background files if you change the splashimage line in SwitchBackground.g4b to have the correct path.

Note: This method can also be used for the AUTO and WINDOWS\xxxx menus. Just place the text:

!BAT
call /_ISO/SwitchBackground.g4b

into the \_ISO\AUTO.g4b and \_ISO\WINMENU.g4b, etc. files and modify the /_ISO/SwitchBackground.g4b batch file accordingly.

Background for AUTO (Direct) Menu (E2B v1.70+)

The file \_ISO\AUTO.bmp will be used as the background for the AUTO menu, if it is present. Note that you can compress the file using gzip or LZMA (best) or use a JPEG file, but the file name must remain as 'AUTO.bmp'.

\_ISO\AUTO.bmp

The bitmap must be the same size as the Main menu bitmap (e.g. 800x600).

If you want to set different colours for the menu text, then you must create a \_ISO\AUTO.g4b batch file - this will be used instead of the AUTO.bmp file - e.g.

\_ISO\AUTO.g4b

!BAT

color normal=0x1c highlight=0xe2

splashimage /_ISO/NEWAUTO.bmp

Note that you could (in theory) also load a different sized bitmap by setting the graphics mode - e.g.

!BAT

color normal=0xc highlight=0xe

graphicsmode -1 1024 768

splashimage /_ISO/AUTO1024.bmp

I don't recommend 1024x768 because some older netbooks can only display 800x600.

See the MyE2B.cfg file for other color commands (e.g. you could change the colour of the menu border frame or the console text colour).

Backgrounds for Windows Install menus (E2B v1.70+)

If any of the following files exist, they will be loaded as a background wallpaper for the appropriate Windows Install menu. If the file does not exist, then the background will be unchanged from the previous menu.

\_ISO\SVR2K8R2.bmp
\_ISO\SVR2012.bmp
\_ISO\VISTA.bmp
\_ISO\WIN7.bmp
\_ISO\WIN8.bmp
\_ISO\WIN10.bmp
\_ISO\SVR2016.bmp
\_ISO\WINMENU.bmp (background for the Windows Install Menu - if any of the other Windows .bmp are used, this should also exist)

The bitmap must be the same xy size as the Main menu bitmap. You can compress .bmp files using gzip or LZMA, or use JPEG encoding (v1.72+), but the name+extension must not be changed (it must be .bmp). E2B v1.A1+ also recognises .jpg files (e.g. \_ISO\VISTA.jpg).

If you only use \_ISO\WINMENU.bmp to change the Windows Install menu background, then all the Windows Install sub-menus will also use this background.

If you want to also change the colours (or other settings), then use a .g4b file (e.g. \_ISO\WINMENU.g4b) instead of a .bmp file - see AUTO section above for details of what to put in each file.

Adding 'Stamps'

With E2B v1.78+ and grub4dos 0.4.6a we can use the 'stamp' feature which will overwrite the wallpaper background with any small image we desire.

This might be useful if you wanted to stamp a large, fancy heading above each menu

For instance, we could stamp a 300x100 'boiler plate' containing our company logo onto the wallpaper in the Main menu, and then stamp a 300x100 AntiVirus logo onto the AntiVirus menu wallpaper:

\_ISO\ANTIVIRUS\$$$$CONFIG\CONFIG.mnu

splashimage $HOME$/Aliums.bmp.gz

color red/blue white/blue

splashimage --offset=0=500=0 $HOME$/AVStamp.bmp

\_ISO\MAINMENU\$$$$CONFIG\CONFIG.mnu

splashimage $HOME$/MMenu.bmp.gz

color red/black white/black

splashimage --offset=0=500=0 /_ISO/LogoStamp.bmp

500 is the x-coordinate, 0 is y-coordinate in the above example.

Example using Stamped headings

If you have a different wallpaper for each menu (or just the same wallpaper file), then you can embed the menu heading into the wallpaper and suppress the default E2B text headings. This means you can have a stylish menu heading or even different icons for menu headings.

The heading in this menu is a 'stamp'.

I added a 24-colour .bmp HeadingUtils.bmp file and a .mnu file:

\_ISO\UTILITIES\$$$$UtilHeading.mnu

# load wallpaper

splashimage /_ISO/e2b/grub/background.bmp.gz

# stamp heading onto wallpaper (0x80 = transparent background)

splashimage --offset=0x80=300=0 /_ISO/HeadingUtils.bmp

If you add a similar file to each menu folder (including the MAINMENU folder), you can change the wallpaper at any time and there is no need to edit the background for each menu.

e.g. place the wallpaper and Heading bitmaps in a separate folder (\_ISO\wallpaper).

The 'transparent' colour value is taken from the bottom-left pixel of the 'stamp'. Any pixels of that same RGB value will not be written onto the wallpaper.

The .mnu file should begin with $$$$ because it must be added to the dynamic menu first before any other menu entries or payload files are enumerated and added to the menu.

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Multiple backgrounds and/or Stamps (v1.A1+)

Alternative Methods (pre. v1.A1)

Set the Main menu background (for use with multiple wallpapers)

Define different backgrounds for each 'normal' sub-menu

Alternative Method

Background for AUTO (Direct) Menu (E2B v1.70+)

Backgrounds for Windows Install menus (E2B v1.70+)

Adding 'Stamps'

Example using Stamped headings

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